Printers that receive computer electronic data and print same on a sheet are widely used as computer output devices. Sometimes printed material that has been printed by such printers is viewed and then the printed material on hand is duplicated. Generally, a method that involves duplicating the printed material by means of a photocopier is used. However, a method that optically reads and duplicates the printed material results in a deterioration of the quality of the printed material. This tendency becomes more prominent as the number of copies of the same printed material increases.
For this reason, a method that involves obtaining the original electronic data for the printed material and then re-printing same has been used. With this method, because the electronic data does not deteriorate, no deterioration in the quality of the printed material is produced irrespective of the number of duplicates.
Conventionally, the following methods are known as such methods.
(1) Where the document creator himself/herself is concerned, the electronic data can be easily printed by means of a printer. However, if the document creator is somebody else, either a request is made to the document creator in order to obtain the data or the document creator is asked to perform the printing.
(2) Further, a standalone device carries and utilizes a function for reprinting a document from a document identification number. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. S60-176168 discloses that a file number for a created document is printed on a printed material, the document is searched under the file number, and reprinting is performed.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2-257762 discloses that, in a digital photocopier, a file number is automatically assigned to render a document file when the document is read and, by printing a list of the file numbers separately from the printed material, the corresponding file number is sought from the list, the document file is retrieved, and the retrieved document is reprinted.
(3) As shown in FIG. 14, documents are managed by a server which is accessed by clients to retrieve a document and the retrieved document is reprinted by a printer.
However, when data is obtained, by means of the method in (1), software that is the same as the application whereby the original document was created, or software that enables data to be read and printed is required, as shown in FIG. 14.
In addition, when the document creator is asked to perform printing, depending on the case, the identity of the document creator is checked and the creator is asked to perform printing. The document creator who has been asked to perform printing is required to carry out a troublesome task that involves searching for the document file, running an application to open and print the document file, and passing the printed document copy(ies) to the party requesting the copies.
The method in (2) employs a special device for filing documents (a word processor, electronic file copier), and, because this method is restricted to usage of a special device, other general purpose devices cannot be used. For example, when the party requesting the copies other than the document creator uses a general-purpose personal computer, it is difficult to perform reprinting via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).
Because, with the method in (3), usage of the server is shared by clients, document managers and creators and so forth are required to perform the task of associating the document files and printed material after managing non-duplicate numbers and so forth. Further, as shown in FIG. 35, when a document file search is performed, the party concerned is required to run his/her own personal computer (client) to search for a document file in the server. In addition, when printing is performed, there is then the troublesome labor of downloading data in the server to the client, and running an application to open and print the document file. More particularly, in the case of an application where the format of the original document is not installed on his or her own personal computer, there are costs and labor involved in purchasing and installing the application, and so forth.
In other words, the content must be confirmed to establish whether the printed material on hand and the document file stored in the server are actually the same.